It’s no secret that some Republican legislators are not happy with Rep. Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) as their House Speaker.  Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) announced he would run for Speaker a while back and then promptly admitted he didn’t think he could win. Evidently some Republican legislators continue to feel rebuffed by Straus.  Rumors that Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) was considering the race have now been confirmed as reported by Jay Root with the Associated Press.  This wouldn’t be the first time Chisum has sought the Speaker's gavel: he was a candidate when Rep. Tom Craddick (R-Midland) first won the job and was mentioned as a possible compromise candidate when Straus was seeking the position.

While Straus supposedly has sufficient commitments form legislators to keep the job, if the Republicans - and especially Tea Party Republicans – were to win a lot of seats in November some of those pledges might disappear. Straus is supported by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans and some Republicans don’t like that arrangement.